1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an adhesive wheel balance weight to be attached to a vehicle wheel in order to correct rotational imbalance, and a process for producing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Balance weights are attached to high-speed rotating bodies such as wheels of an automobile or a motorcycle in order to correct imbalance, which becomes a cause of vibrations. These balance weights are roughly classified into two types. One is engaging type (clip-on or hook-on) balance weights in which a weight body is fixed, by engagement, to an outer circumferential edge of a rim of a vehicle wheel. The other is adhesive balance weights in which a weight body is attached to an inner circumferential surface of the rim by a double-sided adhesive tape or the like. Nowadays, highly designed aluminum wheels are increasingly used and in order to maintain their good appearance, adhesive balance weights are often used. Detailed description of such balance weights is shown, for example, in the following Patent Document 1.
Prior Art Documents:    [Patent Document 1] Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No.2003-314618 (U.S. Pat. No. 6,874,856)    [Patent Document 2] Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No.2002-13591
By the way, conventional weight bodies used in adhesive wheel balance weights are produced by casting, press-cutting of metal plates, drawing of rods, roll forming of metal plates, or the like. All of these processes, however, have both merits and demerits in terms of yield rate, raw material costs, and processing costs. Therefore, it is difficult to drastically reduce production costs of conventional adhesive balance weights as they are.
Patent Document 2 discloses engaging type wheel balance weights formed by winding or bending elastic metal and integrally having a weight body and an engaging part (a clip). However, engaging type balance weights and adhesive balance weights have substantially little in common in view of technology. Therefore, technical transfer from one to the other or vice versa is difficult in terms of the shape of weight bodies and production processes.